


a shine of light and a circle of blue

by marcaskane (noblydonedonnanoble)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, I'm not bothering with episode tags, Soulmate Color AU, but then I realized it couldn't be because of my own plot and a problematic detail in an episode, it was supposed to be totally canon compliant, looking at you Divide and Conquer, partially canon compliant, suffice it to say that I deal with a few crucial moments in Sam and Jack's relationship, things go off the rails after that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 11:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblydonedonnanoble/pseuds/marcaskane
Summary: Like everyone else, Jack had grown up hearing stories about what it was like for people to fall in love with their soulmates. The story went that, as soulmates’ feelings for each other grew, the world ignited into color in a way that those who had not found their soulmates would, apparently, never be able to understand.





	a shine of light and a circle of blue

            It had been a long time since Colonel Jack O’Neill gave up on finding his soulmate.

            Like everyone else, he’d grown up hearing stories about what it was like for people to fall in love with their soulmates. The story went that, as soulmates’ feelings for each other grew, the world ignited into color in a way that those who had not found their soulmates would, apparently, never be able to understand.

            _You’ll never realize how faded your world was until you see it in color._

            Jack met Sara, and his world did not ignite. But he loved her. Plenty of people never found their soulmates; why shouldn’t they at least be happy?

            So he married her, and, for a while, they were happy.

            Then they lost Charlie, and they weren’t happy anymore.

            Shortly after, he was recruited for the mission to Abydos, by which time Jack was, frankly, certain that he’d never be happy again.

            As he prepared to pass through the Stargate for the first time, his final thought was that, if this mission was suicide, he was somewhat relieved that he never saw in color. If it was as great as people claimed, the world might have been harder to part with.

 

\--

 

            Captain Samantha Carter entered the briefing room with the bravado of someone who was bracing herself for a fight—hell, it seemed like she was itching for it.

            She stepped out of the shadows, and, for the briefest of moments, there was a hint of… something bright in the corner of Jack’s eye, like the splatters of light that temporarily fill a person’s field of vision when they’ve just squeezed their eyes shut tight.

            It was gone as quickly as it had come.

            Jack wrote it off as an overzealous eye floater, but the shock left him dumbfounded as he saluted her and started in on the briefing.

            “I practically memorized your report from the first mission.”

            He looked up at the Captain, getting ready to appraise whether he should be annoyed or amused by her interruption until _there it was again_. He blinked rapidly a few times and it went away.

            “I’d like to think I’ve been preparing for this all my life.”

            Endeared. He wasn’t annoyed or amused, he was endeared.

            The glimmer of light in the corner of his eye returned, and it didn’t go away until the morning after they returned from Chulak.

            He wondered whether this was the sort of thing that he needed to tell Dr. Fraiser.

 

\--

 

            About a month after their first mission, Jack did go to Dr. Fraiser to complain about something that he said was “sorta like tinnitus of the eyes.” During his vision test, he came to the startling realization that these flashes and flecks of light did nothing to obstruct his line of sight, if he just… focused on things differently.

            Suddenly, it was not so much a constant glare in his eyes as it was that parts of the room seemed to glow.

            Dr. Fraiser gave him a cheerful smile and a, “Well, sir, as far as I can tell, you seem completely normal. The only explanation that really comes to mind…” She trailed off, her expression shifting to one of barely-suppressed curiosity. “Not to… intrude, sir, but you haven’t… I mean to say, when people first start seeing their soulmates…”

            Jack stiffened. “Doc, I’ve barely been able to leave the SGC to sleep. It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that none of my free time has been spent on _dates_.”

            She frowned, no doubt aware that she had struck a nerve. “In that case, sir, I’m not quite sure what to tell you. You seem perfectly healthy, and whatever’s happened to you, it doesn’t seem to have negatively impacted your sight in any way, so I see little reason to take you off active duty. After your next mission, you can let me know during your check-up whether it’s persisted. If it has, I’ll run some further tests then.”

            Three days later, Jack did his best not to feel flustered when all of SG-1 piled into medical and got to hear Dr. Fraiser ask him, “So, sir, are you still seeing those lights?”

            He smiled cheerfully at her and did his best to ignore the fact that, from the corner of his eye, he’d seen Carter look up abruptly at the doctor’s question. “Nope. Must’ve been a fluke.”

             Carter looked down, and Jack could have sworn that, for a moment, her hair glowed.

 

\--

 

            As much as he put on a front, Jack was far from stupid. Of course, he felt differently about it sometimes when Daniel or Carter babbled on, but he really did know his stuff. And one thing he’d always exceled at was reading people, reading relationships.

            That said, it took the better part of a year for Jack to acknowledge to himself what the flickers in his eyes meant.

            He knew that he had a bit of a crush on her. That was… fine. Not great, but fine. Things like this happened, and hell, Carter was beautiful. He doubted that he was the only one in the SGC whose heart beat a touch faster when she walked into a room.

            She talked eagerly about Science and Space, and he found himself genuinely eager to listen, even if he didn’t understand half the words coming out of her mouth.

            And Jack did not miss the fact that the world literally shone brighter after they joked around together in the mess hall; when they parted in the parking lot on the way home with an extra backward glance and parting wave; as she bonded with Nafrayu on the planet of the Nox and looked over at Jack, her eyes shining with joy.

            Oh yes. He knew that he had a crush on her.

            But then they traveled through the Stargate onto an ice planet, and all Jack could think, as he and Carter shivered in the snow—

            “If we don’t make it, I won’t have any regrets. You?”

            “I’ll regret dying.” What he didn’t add was, _But if I have to die on this ice planet, at least I’m with you_.

            As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he swallowed hard.

            He’d known his soulmate for months, yet he’d been too oblivious to notice, even though the proof was – quite literally – right in front of his eyes.

            When Jack awoke in the SGC, a cheerful, “Welcome back to the land of the living, sir,” came from the bed beside him.

            Jack looked up to meet Carter’s gaze and had to refrain from letting out a yelp as he sat up abruptly.

            Her hair didn’t just glow anymore. It was…

            Well, he didn’t know what to call it. But it was vibrant, nearly blinding in contrast to the dull room around them.

            “Sir? Colonel, are you alright?”

            Carter’s words sent a jolt through him and her hair returned to its normal, less vivid glow.

            “Yeah, Carter. I’m… I’m alright.”

 

\--

 

            After one misunderstood _Simpsons_ reference too many, Jack decided to introduce Teal’c to the show. He went into it planning to spend a casual evening unwinding with a friend, but as the episode ended, he found his thoughts straying toward…

            “Teal’c, can I ask you something?”

            “You may.”

            “Do you have soulmates on Chulak?”

            T’ealc tilted his head to the side curiously. “I am not certain what you mean by ‘soulmates,’ O’Neill.”

            Jack should have probably suspected as much. “Right. Your soulmate is… Jesus, I don’t even know the best way to explain it. The story goes that your soulmate is the person you’d be happiest spending your life with, but it’s more than that. It’s… if a person finds their soulmate, they literally start to see the world differently.”

            “By ‘differently,’ are you referring to color?”

            “Yes!” Jack surprised himself with his enthusiasm.

            “Then yes, we do have soulmates on Chulak. We refer to them as Kalak’tep.”

            Jack hesitated for a fraction of a second before saying, “And are you and Drey’auc…” He didn’t finish his sentence, simply leaning forward and gesturing vaguely with his hands.

            Teal’c allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face. “Yes. We are Kalak’tep, although it is now unlikely that she would acknowledge it if she were asked.”

            “Right.” Jack grimaced, thinking of the way Teal’c and Drey’auc looked each other when they last parted on Chulak. “I can drop it, if you’d like.”

            “Do not worry, O’Neill. I assume that you have another reason to ask about soulmates, do you not?”

            “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I guess I just was wondering…” Jack wished this were easier, but he still didn’t know exactly what he wanted to ask until he blurted, “What’s it like?”

            Teal’c quirked his eyebrow at Jack. “It?”

            “As you’re getting to know your soulmate, what’s it like? How does it work?”

            “I expected it to happen all at once, but it did not.” Teal’c looked away from Jack, and he got a far-off look in his eyes as he said, “I saw only small lights at first. As I became more acclimated to them, and as Drey’auc and I grew closer, the lights were less obtrusive, but more enduring. It began to appear as though my surroundings glowed. I did not realize it at the time, but I began to see colors soon after. First in her eyes. She has… beautiful, warm brown eyes. But I could not put words to it at first. All I knew was that my world became more vibrant with each day that my feelings for Drey’auc grew.”

            Teal’c fell silent, and Jack felt breathless, reluctant to fill the space.

            “O’Neill, may I ask why—”

            “Just curious, T. Just curious.”

 

\--

 

            After his conversation with Teal’c, Jack quietly wondered whether he was beginning to see color in Carter’s hair, but he couldn’t say for sure because, even when it was at its most vivid, it seemed so… light.

            They went back to 1969, and as they huddled close together in front of a fire one night, Jack looked her in the eye and he saw what he could only describe as an explosion of color.

            He saw the fire reflected in her eyes first. Something about it, flickering and bright, seemed to emanate its own sort of heat.

            But Jack looked beyond that reflection until he could only see see Carter’s irises, which somehow managed to be so pale and so vivid at the same time. And there was so _much_ in them, colors that seemed so alike and worlds apart all at once. If this was how they looked in the firelight, he could not imagine what they would look like in the sun.

            Daniel interrupted and the color retreated as quickly as it had come, but Jack did not miss the fact that Carter was squinting at him for the rest of the evening. Sizing him up. He wondered, vaguely, whether she’d try to bring up what he knew must be happening to her too.

            He sat praying, though he couldn’t have said for sure that he was praying for her to speak or praying for her to leave it alone.

            Regardless of what he prayed for, she left it alone. As she needed to. As the Air Force needed them to.

            When he finally got home, Jack got to an encyclopedia and looked up the words to describe the colors he saw in her eyes.

            None of them seemed right, but he settled on the one that seemed best.

            Blue. Carter’s eyes were blue.

 

\--

 

            Carter’s hair didn’t blind Jack anymore, and he went through spurts where he could reliably see several shades of three colors: yellow, green, and blue.

            Red orange, and some of the more nuanced shades came in and out, and he’d only seen what he believed to be purple once: when Sam – when Carter – had to squirm her way through a formal off-world event in a purple dress.

            She’d been so disgruntled when complaining that she’d slipped up and called him ‘Jack.’  And he wasn’t annoyed or amused, he was endeared.

            But Daniel was beside him, so, once she’d talked herself down a bit, he’d gently, almost teasingly corrected her.

            Almost more miraculously, Jack began to dream in splotches of color. It did not pass his notice that it first happened immediately after Carter’s promotion to Major. Immediately after she smiled at him and saluted and reminded him, all at once, why he was falling for her and why he could never say a word about it.

 

\--

 

            Jack didn’t understand much about the whole “alternate realities” thing, but part of his trouble derived from the fact that when he met an alternate version of Sam, the colors around her were… different. Like Carter, she stood out from her surroundings, but Sam was more muted, like someone had turned the volume on her most of the way down.

            Meanwhile, Sam looked at him liked he was the sun.

            The moment he stepped into Sam’s room and saw her crying, he knew he was in over his head, but something stopped him from turning away.

            Part of Jack’s brain was shouting from the moment that Sam said, “You don’t even see her that way, do you?” It shouted nothing in particular—after all, Jack could not exactly contradict her, not aloud.

            But God, did he want to say something.

            So as he hugged her, as she gradually stopped sobbing in his arms, he said the only words that came to mind because maybe this was the one time he could say it.

            “Sam, I know you think that Carter and I aren’t… I mean, that I don’t…” He heaved a sigh. “I started to see color the day I met her.”

            “Then why…” Sam pulled away from Jack, and her eyes were tinged red from her tears. “If you know what you could have, then why…?”

            Jack answered too quickly. “We’re happy in SG-1. You should see the four of us, Sam. We make a… really great team.”

            Before leaving the room, he chanced one more glance at Sam’s wedding photo.

            For the first time in a long time, Jack allowed himself to wonder whether Carter would ever want the life that this alternate Sam was showing them. He allowed himself to wonder whether he was being selfish by not actually discussing what they both had to know was between them.

            What a shame that it’d be selfish to say something, too.

 

\--

 

            It wasn’t until Jack found himself stranded on Edora that he acknowledged that he had, perhaps, taken a long life on Earth for granted.

            A long life on Earth brought with it retirement, and with retirement, maybe…

            Well. He’d daydreamed about finally confirming that he’d ignited Carter’s world, just as she’d ignited his.

            Instead, he began to think, once again, in terms of what would make him happy, rather than what could theoretically make him happiest. For three months, helping the people on Edora made him happy. Spending time with Laira made him happy.

            He heard Teal’c’s voice over his walkie-talkie and that all crashed down around him. He tried to behave as though it had not – he even invited Laira to come back to Earth and he _meant_ it, he really did – but the fact was…

            Jack was not the man he once was. He no longer wanted to be just _happy_ , even if his alternative future stretched far beyond him, entirely theoretical.

 

\--

 

            Freya’s damn armbands nearly ruined everything. Nearly ruined everything because Jack almost had to watch helplessly behind a force field while Carter was captured by Jaffa. Nearly ruined everything because when Carter instructed him to leave, he shouted back at her with such vehemence and his surroundings were brighter than he’d ever seen them.

            Jack stared at Carter and he knew that she loved him and he knew that she knew that he loved her.

            And then she was free and they had to return to Earth with that weight on their shoulders.

            After their de-briefing, Jack did the only thing he could do.

            He went home and drank until his living room was little more than a swirl of color around him. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, but for the first time, he felt like he couldn’t keep this up.

 

\--

 

            “Because I care about her. A lot more than I’m supposed to.”

            Jack had hoped that that would be enough. After all, it was the reason that he had refused to leave Carter. Surely… surely that would be enough.

            Carter’s expression as she glanced at the screen was all he needed to see that it was _not_ enough, but he still waited for Freya to press him. “Is that all?”

            He shut his eyes tight, thought of Freya standing across the room, and of Teal’c and Dr. Fraiser in the observation room above them. He could not quite believe that he needed to say this, not this way. “No, it’s not.”

            “Why did you not leave her, Colonel O’Neill?”

            “Because she’s my soulmate. I think,” he said, almost as an afterthought, as he allowed himself to glance tentatively toward Carter again.

            She nodded ever so slightly at the exact same time that Freya said, “You are not a Zatarc,” and Jack could not have said which one prompted him to smile.

            Then Carter said it aloud, too, and his heart swelled.

 

\--

 

            Jack and Carter agreed that would be the end of it and he was prepared for that – not happy about it, but prepared – but it seemed like General Hammond had other ideas, because the next day, he summoned Jack and Carter to his office.

            “Morning, General,” Jack said as he knocked on the doorframe. Like some cheerfulness at the top of the conversation would make things easier.

            “Colonel. Major. Please close the door behind you and have a seat.”

            Hammond didn’t say anything for a few moments once Jack and Carter were seated across from him, until finally, “I’m afraid you two have put me in something of a difficult position.”

            When he didn’t continue, Jack hesitated for a second before frowning and asking, “Sir?”

            “Why do you think the military has such strict regulations against relationships between commanding officers and their subordinates?”

            Jack wrinkled his brow in bewilderment at the same time that Carter said, “Sir, Colonel O’Neill and I aren’t—”

            Hammond’s voice was kind as he said, “That wasn’t what I asked.”

            “Right. Sorry, sir. Because the superior officer’s in a position of higher authority and could take advantage of a subordinate.”

            “Why else?”

            Carter seemed speechless, which didn’t matter much, because Jack could tell that General Hammond was directing this question at him. He stared at the general, reluctant to say what had to be said. “Their emotions could cloud their judgment. Lead them to make mistakes.”

            General Hammond nodded carefully, and he allowed another brief silence to hang between them. “It is my understanding that the military has never before had to deal with a pair of soulmates in your position. Of course, we can’t know for sure—you two were the first to be put into a position where you quite literally had to admit to it.”

            Jack crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. Just their luck.

            “Nevertheless, I must admit that I find it difficult to allow yesterday’s revelation to disappear as easily as I might if the two of you simply had… that is to say, if you were not soulmates.”

            Carter glanced toward Jack before saying, “General, what exactly are you saying? We haven’t done anything wrong.”

            Hammond sighed. “Colonel, if you can tell me honestly that you’ve never made a call specifically because Major Carter is your soulmate, both of you are welcome to leave my office right now.”

            Jack uncrossed his arms and settled them on the chair’s armrests, itching to rise to his feet. But his mind strayed to so many moments when Carter was just a bit more of a factor in his choices than she should have been, and it didn’t matter that he could argue that he would have made most of those choices anyway.

            He sighed as he turned his hands upwards and shrugged vaguely in defeat.

            “I thought so.” Hammond looked down, briefly massaging his forehead in exasperation. “Frankly, I would rather leave it be. I’ve never believed you to make any decisions that put this base or the planet in jeopardy. But you both know as well as I do that this command is constantly under scrutiny, and I’m concerned—”

            “That we would seem reckless if things stayed the way they were,” Jack offered.

            “That’s right.”

            This time, Carter spoke because she saw Jack casting a glance her way. “So what do you suggest?”

            General Hammond grimaced. “You might recall that Teal’c and Dr. Jackson did not exactly acclimate well to Colonel O’Neill’s last replacement, so I believe that the best course of action would be to reassign Major Carter to a different SG unit.”

            “What?” Jack and Carter exclaimed in unison, which might have made Jack smile if he weren’t so exasperated by General Hammond’s revelation.

            “All due respect, sir, but Carter’s the top scientist the Air Force has to offer. She deserves to be on SG-1.” Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Carter send him a gentle smile.

            “Reassigning her to a different SG team will not make her role any less integral, Colonel! If anything, Major Carter, it could be a wonderful opportunity for you to take on greater leadership responsibilities within Stargate Command. Of course, we’ll also continue to reassess the political climate surrounding the Stargate, and I hope that you’ll eventually be able to return to SG-1.”

            Carter opened and closed her mouth several times before finally deciding to speak. “I’m sorry, sir, because I genuinely believe that you’re trying to do the right thing, but I… I don’t think that works for me.”

            “I beg your pardon?”

            “Sir, I think we all know that chances are, if you reassign me, I am never coming back to SG-1. There are always going to be controversies surrounding the Gate. There are always going to be people who would be thrilled to use a pair of Air Force soulmates who work together as a sign of the military’s carelessness. Frankly, for those people, I’m concerned that even keeping us on the same base could be construed as a problem.”

            “Then what do you propose?”

            For the first time, Carter turned to look directly at Jack. He swallowed sharply at the concern – reluctance? – that shone in her eyes before she looked back at Hammond. “General, may I request a moment of your time without the Colonel?”

            Hammond looked between Jack and Carter, his brow furrowed in confusion, but he nodded. “Alright. Colonel.”

            “But—”

            “Jack.” General Hammond said it quietly, a show of kindness, but the slightest hint of irritation leaked into his tone.

            So Jack left.

 

\--

 

            Jack had been pacing for the better part of an hour. For the first ten minutes or so, he’d paced in front of General Hammond’s door, but then the general had literally poked his head out to inform him that his pacing and sighing was too loud and distracting.

            After that, he started wandering aimlessly around the entire floor, ignoring anyone who tried to speak with him as he tried to imagine what it would be like to run SG-1 without Carter.

            For as long as Jack had known that Carter was his soulmate, he’d kept his mouth shut about it because he loved having her on his team. They both were doing so much as a part of SG-1, and he was happy for things to remain that way.

            If Hammond reassigned Carter, not only would they lose that team—she’d still be a part of the Air Force, meaning that they still wouldn’t…

            Well. Suffice it to say that things just seemed less than ideal.

 

\--

 

            “Colonel O’Neill?”

            Jack was just around the corner when General Hammond called for him, and as he replied, “Coming, sir,” he thought he heard Carter chuckle.

            Hammond summoned Jack back inside; both he and Carter were now standing. “Major Carter has presented me with an appealing compromise, which I have already cleared with the president. I’m afraid she will be leaving SG-1—”

            “What?” Jack stared at Carter. _What the hell was she thinking, agreeing to that?_

            “— _but_ she is entirely on board with the terms that we’ve set for her departure. I’d explain it to you myself, but I’ve just been called down to one of the labs. Some of the technicians apparently have something quite exciting to show me. Colonel, I’ve already granted Major Carter permission to remain here with you while she brings you up to speed.”

            Jack didn’t miss the fact that Hammond eased the door shut behind him, leaving Jack and Carter alone, standing on opposite sides of the room.

            Carter rushed to speak the moment the general was gone. Jack couldn’t blame her; he was itching to talk, and he was sure she knew it. “Before you say anything, sir, please just hear me out. The general is going to take some time finding a replacement for me to make sure that it’s the right fit, so I’ll likely go on a few more missions with you, Teal’c, and Daniel. But after that, I’m not just leaving SG-1—I’ll be leaving the SGC.

            “Not forever!” she exclaimed, louder, likely because she saw that Jack was itching to interrupt. “The more long-term plan is for me to leave the military and return to the SGC full-time as a scientific consultant. But the biggest stipulation of my promotion to Major was that I put in a certain number of hours training the scientists at the Academy, and stepping away from the SGC for now and working at the Academy full-time means that I should be able to leave the Air Force in two years or less. In the mean time, General Hammond’s reserved the right to call me in if anything goes seriously wrong, but other than that… I’ll be gone.”

            This time, Jack looked at Carter carefully to make sure she was finished. When she gestured that he could speak, he said, slowly, “You’re leaving the military.”

            She nodded.

            “But you… you love the Air Force.”

             “No, I _like_ the Air Force. I _love_ the Stargate program. I love being a part of SG-1 with Teal’c and Daniel and… and with you,” she added carefully, her voice getting just a hint more tentative. “This seems like the best way for me to hold on to that while also protecting everything we’ve built here. Besides, you… you must understand what else this means.”

            Jack raised his eyebrows and squinted at her. “Not quite yet, no.”

            Carter chuckled and shook her head. “We’re… we’re soulmates, Jack.” She paused, swallowing nervously. “And once I’m a civilian, we won’t have to ignore that.”

            “Oh. Wow.” Jack considered her. “And you’re sure this is what you want?”

            “Yes.”

            Silence hung between them until: “Okay then. Let’s go tell Daniel and Teal’c.”

           

\--

 

            Once Carter was no longer in the SGC, she and Jack both were uncertain about how they should proceed while she was still at the Academy.

            It was nearly six months after she left that Jack invited Daniel and Teal’c to come over to watch a Cubs game with him one evening and Teal’c said, “Perhaps Major Carter could join us.”

            “Yeah, yeah, that… would be nice.”

            So he called her and, after she made a mildly disparaging remark about the Cubs, she said, “Sure, Jack. I’ll be there around six.”

           

\--

 

            Jack was wearing his Ernie Banks jersey and a backwards baseball cap when he opened his door to Carter with a bounce in his step, and the sight of him was enough to make her giggle. “Hi.”

            “Hi, Carter. Daniel and Teal’c are already in the living room. Can I get you a beer?”

            “That sounds great.”

            When Jack returned from the kitchen, Teal’c had engaged Carter in a dialogue about the Cubs curse. Jack perched on the armrest of a chair, looking on with warmth.

            “I did not know that the Tau’ri felt so strongly about their goats.”

            “Well, mostly just the one,” Carter said, glancing up at Jack and smirking.

            “Just the one goat _and_ just the one guy,” Jack added after a moment’s thought.

            Teal’c nodded thoughtfully. “And O’Neill, you believe in this goat curse?”

            Jack shrugged. “Of course I do.”

            “Why do you support the team if you believe that their failure is inevitable?”

            Carter and Daniel both looked to Jack, watching him in amusement as he stammered toward an answer for a few seconds before finally settling on, “Eat your nachos, Teal’c.”

            Daniel turned to Carter and asked her if she had any stories about the Academy. Jack looked on silently while they chatted over the pre-game sportscaster garbage that was spewing from the television, and he realized abruptly that it had been months since he hadn’t been surrounded by color.

            His gaze lingered on Carter as he smiled, and as she caught his eye, she smiled back, in a moment that was all their own.

 

\--

 

            The Cubs lost brutally. By the seventh inning, Jack was resigned to the inevitable loss, but he refused to turn it off _just in case_.

            Teal’c still didn’t understand Jack’s mindset, but Jack was saved from having to summon an answer when Daniel said, “Teal’c, I’m beat, could I take you home now?”

            “Certainly, Daniel Jackson.” As he stood up, Teal’c looked to Carter and said, “Major Carter, it has been wonderful to share your company again. I hope to see you sometime soon.”

            “I hope so too, Teal’c.” She stood to her feet along with Daniel and Teal’c so that she could give them both hugs, after which all four of them made their way to Jack’s front door. Carter stood back a bit as Jack bid Daniel and Teal’c farewell and waved them out, and then, in a flash, they were alone.

            As Jack nudged the door most of the way closed, he shoved his free hand in his pocket and glanced down at his floor before looking back up at Carter. At the exact same time, they both said, “So—”

            They both chuckled and Jack shook his head to himself. “Go ahead, sorry.”

            “Oh, right. I was just going to say… it’s a bit late, maybe I should…”

            “Oh, you want to…” Jack felt a little breathless and more than a little confused. Surely she would have walked out with Teal’c and Daniel if she wanted to go.

            “Yeah, yeah, I… probably should,” Carter hesitated for a moment before taking a tentative step toward the door.

            “Sure, okay.” Jack pulled the door open again, rubbing the back of his neck as he said, “It was… it was good to see you.”

            Carter nodded. “Yeah, it was good to see you, too.”

            Suddenly she was outside and the door was closed and Jack was looking around his vestibule, feeling helpless.

            Maybe if he went after her immediately, he could catch her before she left.

            When Jack opened the door, Carter was standing on his doorstep, her fist poised to knock. “Sam.”

            “Jack.”

            He stared down at her and the first words that came to his mind were, “Your eyes are blue.”

            She blinked a few times. “What?”

            “That was when I knew for sure that you were my soulmate. I looked at your eyes and… and they were blue.”

            “Oh.” Carter appraised him. “And could your soulmate maybe… come back in?”

            So quietly that it was a wonder Carter could hear him, Jack said, “Yes, please.”

            They were kissing before Jack could even kick the door closed.


End file.
